The day before...

Today is the day before our wedding anniversary.  We've already been celebrating for two days.  MWH took Friday off work and we drove up to Frankenmuth, MI. 

Frankenmuth is a German town.  Almost everything in town is authentically German or heavily influenced by Germany.  It's a beautiful town and really overrun by tourists in the summer.  It was pretty cold and overcast while we were there yesterday, but we still had a great time.  We checked out the cute little tourist mall by the river before going to the Bavarian Inn Restaurant for one of their famous chicken dinners.  Yum, Yum. 

 

I just had this lunch.  They were really sweet and let me have noodle soup instead of the dressing.  The meal also came with gravy and a bread selection.  There was stollen, white, and wheat breads and a delicious strawberry/cranberry jelly.  Fantastic lunch!

If you're really hungry, you can get the all-you-can-eat-dinner.  As you can see it's served family style.  In addition to the menu listed above, it comes with vegetables, buttered noodles, noodle soup, squash, and dessert (ice cream or sherbet).  Just talking about it makes me full!  I have to admit to ordering this a few times in the past and it's worth every penny!

 

BTW, Mikki, they have gluten free meals in the dining room, gluten free baked goods and even a gluten free weekend in March!  The head baker at the Bavarian Inn is gluten intolerant and very careful about cross contamination.

 

After lunch, we headed for Bronners.  It's a wonderful, year-round Christmas store.  I don't think it's an exaggeration to say there are millions of Christmas ornaments in the store.  There are Christmas trees in the traditional green, iridescent silver, gold, yellow, blue, purple, red, black, and white.  And every imaginable style of lights.  There are banners and figures for indoor and outdoor displays including a giant inflatable purple penguin.  They have the most beautiful and extensive selection of nativity scenes, figures, and buildings that you can imagine.  And, of course, every other Christmas need you can imagine.  Here are a couple of pictures one from outside and one from inside to give you just a little idea of what it's like.

       

After our time in Frankenmuth, we drove the 5 miles back to Birch Run to spend the night.  When we got up this morning, we hit the shops!  Birch Run is home to a gigantic outlet mall.  We only hit about 7 stores.  We found what we were looking for and hit the road for home.

Instead of jumping back on the interstate to drive the 90 minutes home, we just took off cross country.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we chatted and looked at houses and avoided the state highways as much as possible.  We have a compass in the car so we just made sure to keep headed west and south. 

What a great way to spend the 2 days before our anniversary!

Technorati Tags: Frankenmuth,Bronners,Anniversary

QFG - My Re-boot

I've been told that the definition of insane is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  This week I finally took a step away from insanity and tried something different to get myself back to being awake during the day and sleeping at night.  I sure wish I'd tried it months ago!  I stayed awake and active from 1PM Monday to 10:50PM Tuesday in an attempt to re-boot myself.  I'm so amazed at how well this strategy worked!  I've been able to get up at 7AM for 3 days in a row now.  And I feel so much better and am so much more productive.  WooHoo!

I've also started back on my knee pushups training.  It's going slow, but I didn't fall back as far as I'd feared.  I will not make 100 pushups by tomorrow, Feb 28, but I will make it!

Technorati Tags: 100 Pushups,Goals

Wednesday Hero

Spc. Ross A. McGinnis
19 years old from Knox, Pennsylvania
1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division
December 4, 2006


His mission was to patrol the streets of Adhamiyah in northeast Baghdad and find a place to put a 250-kilowatt generator that would provide electricity for more than 100 homes. But it's a mission he wasn't able to accomplish.

Shortly after Pfc. McGinnis's convoy left the compound, and less than a mile from FOB Apache, an insurgent standing on a nearby rooftop threw a grenade into the sixth, and last, Humvee. "Grenade!" yelled McGinnis, who was manning the vehicle's M2 .50-caliber machine gun. He tried to deflect the grenade but it fell into the Humvee and lodged between the radios.

"McGinnis turned and looked down and realized no one in the truck knew where the grenade was," said Capt. Michael Baka, his company commander. "He knew everyone had their doors combat-locked and they wouldn't be able to get out."

Instead of jumping out of the truck to save his own life, like he had been trained to do, McGinnis threw his back against the radio mount, smothering the explosive with his body. The grenade exploded just as Pfc. McGinnis covered it. The blast filled the vehicle with black smoke and debris and blew the driver's door and right passenger's door wide open and blew the machine gun off its mount. The explosion hit McGinnis on his sides and his lower back, under his vest. He was killed instantly.

The other four soldiers in the Humvee suffered relatively minor injuries.

On the morning of December 4, 2006, before his convoy had left, Cpt. Baka has signed a waver promoting Pfc. McGinnis to Specialist and he was posthumously promoted to E-4.

For his heroic actions on that day, McGinnis was awarded the Silver Star and was nominated for a Medal of Honor which he received on June 2, 2008.

All Information Was Found On And Copied From MilitaryCity.com

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Inspirational Comment - Weekly Weigh-in #8

So last week I was feeling sorry for myself because I've been binge eating and gaining weight.  I was trying to encourage myself to start over using Thomas Edison as my mentor.  It took 10,000 tries before Mr. E. invented the light bulb.  If he could fail that many times and not give up, I decided that I could keep going in spite of my failures.  Then I received this wonderful comment from Don of Health Essentials Blog.

Stick it out. Don't give up. It's just feedback so you know it aint working and you need to do something different.
Go back to basics ... gradual changes, natural food choices, water, consistent exercise ... and a healthy mindset.
Don't fixate about weight. Your goal should be related to fat loss and healthy, sustainable habits.
That's when you win.
Good Luck

Sadly, I'm still dealing with the binge eating and I've gained 0.8 # this week.

But I really was encouraged by Don's comment.  And, Don, you have me thinking.  I just have to figure out how to take the thinking and turn it into action.  Here are a couple of things I've already done.

• I'm back to training for 100 pushups.  I had let that slip to the point that I could only do 31 knee pushups instead of 41.  But I'm back at it.  I've done an endurance test and 2 scheduled workouts.
• I'm trying to change my thinking.  Instead of beating myself up, I'm trying to say positive, encouraging things to myself.
• The binge eating is tapering off.  With only a gain of 0.8 I must be eating less.

I'm doing something radical.  As you know if you've read my Monday Fitness Goals posts over the last month or so, I've been trying to switch my days and nights back to normal.  I've been staying up until 3AM and then sleeping until nearly noon.  I tried to take control of this behavior by setting an alarm to get up earlier so I would be tired enough to go to bed earlier.  That one (#137 or so) didn't work.  I ended up staying up until 4AM!

Since I received Don's comment I've really been thinking about the line "...you need to do something different."  I'm arguing with myself that this has always worked before.  But it isn't working this time!  In the middle of the night between Saturday and Sunday an idea finally popped into my head.

Here's the deal.  Last night I stayed up all night.  Today I've been a little bit in la-la land, but I've been staying awake OK.  There is no doubt in my mind I'll be able to go to bed between 10PM and 11PM.  Maybe even earlier.  And I should be able to get up with a 7AM alarm.  I'll let you know if this drastic measure is able to re-boot me to a normal schedule.

And I'm hoping a normal day/night schedule will help me to eat more normally instead of snacking most of the night.

Head on over to see how my friends are doing with their weight loss goals at One Weigh at a Time.  And don't forget to check out Ron's blog!

Technorati Tags: Weekly Weigh-in,Goals,Weight Loss

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

I found National Eating Disorder Awareness Week at Here and Now ~*~ 4 Angel~*~.  Eating disorders are very serious.  Here are the 3 disorders I found listed at the NEDA website.

Anorexia Nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by self-starvation and excessive weight loss.

Binge Eating Disorder
Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is a type of eating disorder not otherwise specified and is characterized by recurrent binge eating without the regular use of compensatory measures to counter the binge eating.

Bulimia Nervosa
Bulimia Nervosa is a serious, potentially life-threatening eating disorder characterized by a cycle of bingeing and compensatory behaviors such as self-induced vomiting designed to undo or compensate for the effects of binge eating.

The mission of NEDA is: 

Our aim of NEDAwareness Week is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment. Eating disorders are serious, life-threatening illnesses — not choices — and it’s important to recognize the pressures, attitudes and behaviors that shape the disorder.

Please, if you, a friend, or a family member suffers from one of these disorders, contact NEDA or your doctor.  For more information, visit the official NEDA site.

Technorati Tags: National Eating Disorder Awareness Week,Eating Disorders

Wednesday Hero

Sgt. Kelly Keck
34 years old from West Liberty, Kentucky


Secretary of the Army Pete Geren congratulates Sgt. Kelly Keck after presenting him the Purple Heart.

On September 13, 2008, Sgt. Kelly Keck, a combat medic serving in Afghanistan, was wounded while trying to aid his fellow soldiers who's truck had just been struck by an IED. "I stepped off the road to try to get to the side of the truck, and the next thing I know I hear a loud boom, and I'm laying on the ground," he said. Sgt. Kelly had stepped on a land mine. He was flown to a field hospital in Jalalabad where he ended up loosing three fingers on his left hand and his right leg below the knee. "It was quite an ordeal," the soft-spoken soldier said.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Weekly Weigh-In #7 - One Weigh at a Time

I haven't posted my weekly weigh-ins for the last couple of weeks because I've been pouting.  I've also been gaining!  And neglecting my pushups workouts.  So I'm going to take Thomas Edison's advice and start again.  After each of his first 9,999 tries to invent the incandescent light bulb, he'd say he'd found another way NOT to do it.  And he'd start again.  I'm glad he didn't give up, aren't you?

Edison's persistence gives me hope that I really can succeed as long as I don't quit trying.  Hopefully, I won't need 10,000 attempts. 

So officially, I'm at zero gain/loss.  Actually, I'm 5 pounds heavier than our first weigh in of 2009.  That will be the last I mention it.  I'm setting a new goal and changing my ticker to reflect it.  My mini-goal will be to lose 27 pounds so I can have a century change on my scale.

You can see how the rest of our group is doing at One Weigh at a Time.

Technorati Tags: Weekly Weigh-in

Rats!

Visit Blog 365

 

I'm a failure.  I have no excuses.  I just got wrapped up in an audiobook yesterday and totally forgot to post!  So my perfect record from Nov 21, 08 is no more.  I'm starting over today in Blog365 and will start over in NaBloPoMo on March 1.

I'm disappointed, of course, but it's certainly not the end of the world.  I love blogging and I can easily start over.  You can't get rid of me that easily!  teehee

Thanks for all your comments and your Entrecard drops.  You've no idea how much that encourages me.  Actually, you probably do know how encouraging it is.

 

I'm starting something new.  If you will display my badge, I'll display yours!  You can find the code for my badge in the sidebar.  Just leave me a comment or drop me an email with your code or a link to where I can find your badge and what link you want with it.  I'll check your  blog and when I see Miss Chloe's pretty little calico face there, I'll post your badge within 24 hours.  I think it will be a fun way to spread a little bloggy love around!

Technorati Tags: Blog365,NaBloPoMo,Entrecard

Blog Love Award

I have such wonderful friends.  I think that's what I like best about blogging.  One of my really cool friends is Tammy of Crazy Mom With 4 Boys.  And she just gave me this beautiful award.  I actually learned to type on a machine like that.  Yes, I really am that old.  Thank you, Tammy!

Here are the rules:
* When you receive the Blog Love award, you should place the logo on your blog proudly!
* Link to the blogger that awarded you the love
* Nominate your friends and bloggers you read regularly, as many as you like
* Finally, let them know you’ve nominated them to receive the award

I am officially passing on a little Blog Love to the following exceptional bloggers:

1. Chuck at Secondary Roads
2. Sandee at Comedy Plus
3. Ida at Losing Myself
4. Holy Cuteness

Please go check out these great blogs.

Technorati Tags: Blog Love Award

Happy Friday the 13th!

Most of you know that Friday the 13th is a pagan holiday.  Many just think it's unlucky.  Watch out for that black cat!  Not me.  I've never suffered from paraskavedekatriaphobia (fear of Friday the 13th) or even triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).  That always seemed so silly to me. 

I didn't become a celebrator of Friday the 13th, though, until I met MWH.  It really is a special day for him.  He was born on Friday the 13th.  In December.  His birthday, though always celebrated, was right at the time of all the Christmas preparations.  I think that may be why he began celebrating every Friday the 13th.

Whatever the reason, we celebrate them all.  He proposed on Sept 13, 1991, a Friday.  I accepted on that same Friday the 13th.  I have a brother-in-law and a niece also born on Friday the 13th.  What's unlucky about all that?

This month we won't be able to go out to celebrate - see yesterday's post.  So I'm planning a special meal at home.  And we'll watch a couple of movies on TV. 

At least we have another one next month! 

How do you feel about Friday the 13th?  Fearful?  Celebratory?  Indifferent?

No, I Have Brown Eyes!

It's been a real adventure for me the last few days. My doctor said I have one of the worst cases of pink eye she's ever seen. Yuck! I've never had it before, but my eye is not only red, it's swollen. Not quite almost shut anymore, but still bad. So it's the glasses that don't let me see much at all or one contact. I'm trying the glasses as long as I can before I put in the contact. One eye is better than none!

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Post Was Suggested And Written By Brat

Sgt. Patrick Tainsh
33 years old from Oceanside, California
Troop E, 2nd Squadron, 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment
February 11, 2004


Five years ago today, Sgt. Patrick Tainsh sacrificed all as the mounted unit he
was part of was hit by an IED in Baghdad. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze and Sliver Stars saving the lives of his commanding officer and other soldiers before succumbing to his own wounds. Also killed in the attack was Pfc. William C. Ramirez from Portland, Oregon.

On Veteran’s Day, 2007, Deborah Tainsh, Sgt. Tainsh's mother, attended a school in Columbia, Georgia, and shared a story she had written called "A Boy Named Patrick."

Here is part of the story :

…a little boy named Patrick who loved football, beaches, surfing, and
skateboarding, and especially reading. Patrick watched his dad be a Marine for
over twenty years. During this time Patrick kept reading not only surfing and
skateboarding magazines, but history books, too. One day when Patrick was a man, he told his dad and best friend, “I want to do something that will make a
difference in the world, I’m going to be a soldier.” And so he did. And in 1999
he went to Fort Knox, Kentucky for boot camp and then went to Fort Polk,
Louisiana where he worked and trained hard to become a United States Army
Cavalry Scout. Then in 2003 Patrick had to say good bye to his mom and dad
because he had to go fight a war in Iraq to protect his country, friends, and
family from terrorists and to help fight for the freedoms of the boys and girls
in that country where they and their families were treated very badly by their
country’s leader. Patrick once wrote a letter to his mom and dad telling them
that he cried for the children because they were hungry and he didn’t have food
to give them. He said he couldn’t understand how a country’s leader could treat
the people so badly and make them live in such dirty conditions with trash and
wild dogs everywhere. And so Patrick's mom and dad keep a photo in their living
room of Patrick surrounded by Iraqi children.

You can read the story in it's entirety here.

Sgt Tainsh came to the military later than some, but rose through the ranks fast. In his last letter to his parents, Sgt Tainsh shared his thoughts about his mission. And in 2006, Sgt. Tainsh's mother wrote a book called Heart Of A Hawk about her son's life and her and her husband's struggles since their son was killed.


These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Noblesse Oblige Award

 In American English especially, the term noblesse oblige has also been applied more broadly to those who are capable of simple acts to help another, usually one who is less fortunate.

I'm honored to have been chosen to receive this award.  Thank you, Lynne at Seeking His Face, for considering me worthy.

Here are the conditions:

1. The Blogger manifests exemplary attitude, respecting the nuances that pervades amongst different cultures and beliefs.
2. The Blog contents inspire; strives to encourage and offers solutions.
3. There is a clear purpose at the Blog; one that fosters a better understanding on Social, Political, Economic, the Arts, Culture and Sciences and Beliefs.
4. The Blog is refreshing and creative.
5. The Blogger promotes friendship and positive thinking.

Lynne nominated 3 blogs for this award.  I don't know if there is a required number or not.  I'm only going to nominate one blog.  She doesn't usually participate in memes and awards so she may not post that she has received it.  But she certainly deserves it and I hope you'll go read her blog.  She is Mikki at Here's What Let's Do.  Mikki has Celiac Disease and much of her blog is devoted to helping others who have this problem find ways of coping with it.  She also tells funny or serious stories of her life as wife, mother, and teacher.

Here are the rules:

1. Create a Post with a mention and link to the person who presented the Noblesse Oblige Award.
2. The Award Conditions must be displayed at the Post.
3. Write a short article about what the Blog has thus far achieved – preferably citing one or more older Post to support.
4. The Blogger must present the Noblesse Oblige Award in concurrence with the Award conditions.
5. The Blogger must display the Award at any location at the Blog.

Technorati Tags: Award

Ballet? Freedom!

I'll bet you never expect to see anything related to ballet on this site.  I confess that I've only been to the ballet once.  I'd let you guess which one, but no doubt you'd correctly guess the Nutcracker.  And you can't call me Bubba.  I knew it wasn't going to be 'professional' wrestling.  Sorry, I'm getting off track.

I haven't forgotten that this should be Fitness Goals Monday, but this got my attention and sounded more interesting to blog about.  As I was going around the Entrecard universe, I stopped to read Being Bipolar. This is Bipolar Awareness Month and she had posted a very interesting interview with bipolartink.  It really caught my attention because bipolartink was very open about her disorder.  When I went to visit and viewed her profile, this was the question she had listed.

What would you name your ballet inspired by the sight of children leaping through a garden sprinkler?

 

My instant response was 'Freedom!'  Then I started to analyze my answer and decided that 'Freedom!' so describes my childhood and should describe every childhood.

Some may say that kids don't have that much freedom.  There are so many rules.  Don't do that!  Don't touch!  Don't go there!  Do this!  Do that!  ...and on and on and on....  But I don't remember being held down by rules.  I remember being punished for breaking the rules and feeling horribly guilty when I broke them without being found out.  The rules were like a fence around my world.  But the fence didn't hold me back.  It kept me safe.

Within that fence of rules I could do anything I wanted.  I remember running through the garden sprinkler with wild abandon.  I could ride my bike as much as I wanted.  I played softball.  Jumped rope with all the kids in the neighborhood.  Our imaginations turned the path to Grandma's house into a raging river which we knights in shining armor waged war over.  There was a swing in the old apple tree that took me to the heavens.  There was a kitchen or a factory or a gymnastics arena in a corner behind the house.  There were quiet places to hide out with a book.  And books took me everywhere!  That was real freedom.

But real freedom comes with a fence.  I couldn't hurt anyone or damage anyone's property.  As adults living in the land of freedom, it's the same way.  Freedom comes with responsibility.  That's what my fence of rules as a child was teaching me.  If I want the freedom to do what I want, I need to take responsibility to be sure my actions don't hurt anyone or anything.  If I live with that one simple rule, I can do anything.  I can go anywhere.  I can be anyone I want.

Technorati Tags: Freedom

 

Photo Hunt - Bridge

The Blue Water Bridge between Port Huron, Michigan, USA, and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.

To see more bridges, go to tnchick.com

 

Technorati Tags: PhotoHunt

Doing Our Part

 

 

I'm not really an environmentalist.  I don't recycle because I'm trying to save the world.  But I do believe that I have a responsibility to take care of what God has blessed me with.  Our township has built a beautiful, clean recycling center in the last couple of years so we started collecting and sorting our trash.

 

 

And don't we have a lot of it!  Check out the back of the van!  And that's a Grand Caravan with the back two seats out.  We had one container filled to the top with tin cans.  That's easy to do when our babies get a can of cat food every day.  And MWH and I love soup in the winter!

 

 

 

Yeah, MWH is posing.  He was too quick for me and I made him do it again.  This was one of 2 containers full of #1 and #2 plastic.  We also had magazines, miscellaneous junk mail, newspapers, glass, and household batteries.  Oh, yeah.  We had two large boxes and one bin of cardboard and box board.  We  were about up to our eyeballs in the stuff at home!

 

 

 

There were several other people there, too, since it was about 53 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny!  What a beautiful day to be out and about.

On the way out I stopped to take a picture of this sign about our Digester System Improvements.

 

 

 

 

Here's what I took the picture for.  It's the description of what a digester system is. 

 

Do you recycle?  Are you lucky enough to have pickup or do you have to haul it like we do?

 

Technorati Tags: Recycling

Who Am I?

Please enjoy one of my favorite songs by Casting Crowns.

I'm Fabulous!

Um, I mean, my blog is fabulous.  I received this lovely award from my brother, Chuck, at Secondary Roads.  Thank you!  He's a fairly new blogger.  I don't believe it would be nepotism to say his blog is fabulous, too!

The rules are simple. Name five things to which I am addicted. And five Blogs that I think are fabulous.

I'm addicted to:

1. Blogging
2. Computer games
3. Chocolate
4. Audio books
5. Ice cream

Fabulous Blogs:

1. Holy Cuteness
2. Crazy Mom With 4 Boys
3. Comedy Plus
4. Subjective Soup
5. Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Of course there are many other blogs that I consider fabulous, too.  Please stop by and give these folks a read.  I think you'll like them as much as I do.

Technorati Tags: Award

Wednesday Hero

Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch


In 2003, Sgt. Popaditch, along with 1st Tank Battalion, rolled into Baghdad from Kuwait at the start of the Iraq War. They had just taken the city and the tank that Sgt. Popaditch was in had rolled up to a 40-ft statue of Saddam. I think we all remember that statue. Popaditch was given a cigar by a fellow Marine and as he smoked it an AP photographer snapped a picture of him.

Fast forward to April 7, 2004. Sgt. Popaditch's wife was vacationing with their son when she received a phone call informing her that her husband had been injured in an attack. The turret of his tank, that he was situated in, had taken two direct hits from RPG's. He fell through the hatch to the floor of the tank. As he struggled to his feet, he began to shout orders to his men but go no response. He then realized that the attack had caused him to go deaf in both ears. But that was only temporary. He then reached up and felt that his head was wet and knew it wasn't good.

In the aftermath of the attack, Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch had lost his right eye. And because of that he now proudly wears a prosthetic eye with the Marine Corps. logo embossed on it. On November 10, 2005 Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for heroism in combat. He also has a book out titled Once A Marine.

You can read more about Gunnery Sgt. Nick Popaditch here and here.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

My World Tuesday - Baltimore's Inner Harbor

One of the final days of 2008 found us in Baltimore's beautiful Inner Harbor.  We have visited in the summer and it's always crowded with people.  It's a wonderful place to visit.  It's home to the National Aquarium, several boats and submarines you can tour, shopping and restaurants.  There are water taxis, boats to rent, and even a lighthouse to visit!  But in the winter, it's quieter.  We found a food court where each of us could find something to eat.  There was a Thai placed so my daughter was able to find gluten-free, too.  When we stepped out on the balcony after eating, I took these photos.

The U.S.S. Constellation was the last all-sail ship built by the United States Navy.  Among its other missions, it was used to disrupt the slave trade and deliver famine relief supplies to Ireland.  The tall building in the background is Baltimore's World Trade Center.

You can also tour the Chesapeake and the submarine you see here.  Note the Hard Rock Cafe on the left if you want more modern entertainment.

This guy is holding a large chunk of bread in his hands.  It's out of the frame, but there was a pigeon sitting on his head, too.

You can head  over to MyWorld to see pictures from all over the world.

Technorati Tags: MyWorld

Groundhog Day & Fitness Goals

My mom used to say that if the groundhog saw his shadow we'd have 6 more weeks of winter and if he didn't it was only 6 more weeks until spring.  In all my years, it seems she's been right.  I'm not looking forward to another six weeks of winter.  But there is one consolation.  I noticed at about 6:00PM tonight that it was still light outside!  Hooray!

As far as fitness goals go, it's not been the best of weeks.  I'm sure you're getting as tired of reading this junk as I am of writing it.  I didn't eat well or sleep in timely fashion this week.  So that's two thumbs down right there.

The pushups are going better.  For my last endurance test I did 41 pushups.  So today I started Week 5 Column 3.  I did 36, 40, 30, 24 with no problems.  I needed to do a minimum of 40 for the last set, but was only able to do 37.  I'm happy with that.  I'll repeat this workout on Wednesday.

Hopefully, next week I'll have happier things to say.  Thanks for supporting me.  I appreciate your comments and encouragement. 

Technorati Tags: Fitness Goals Monday

The Super Bowl

I confess.  I watched the Super Bowl.  Well, most of it anyway.  I usually fast forward thru the game and watch only the commercials.  I'm not a huge Steelers fan, but I've always liked them since waaaaay back when they had the Steel Curtain.  I know I'm showing my age, but you only have to look up in the top left corner of my blog if you want to see my age. 

I was ecstatic when the Steelers picked off the pass at the end of the first quarter and ran it all the way back for a touchdown.  And when they scored at the end of the game to grab victory from the jaws of defeat!  Wow!!  Way cool.

One thing I don't watch is half time.  Forget that stuff.  This is about football... and commercials.  So did you get your 3D glasses for the Monsters vs Aliens ad?  Cute, huh?  I love Pixar.  I really liked it.  There were several others that were good.  The one that I thought was super lame was the Pepsi ad spoofing McGiver.  Bad.  Really, really, bad.

I hope you enjoyed the big game and all the hoopla surrounding it as much as I did!  So we have one more game?  Then a really long wait for it to all start again.